Pavan Acharya

I am a journalist interested in telling the stories that impact my readers the most.

My Recent Work

The Texas Tribune •

Texas’ DEI debate centers on a disagreement about whether programs perpetuate or prevent discrimination

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Over the past year, University of Texas at Austin senior Kam McQueen has had a first-hand look at what happens when the state bans diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public colleges.


The school’s multicultural center, which hosted six groups that supported students of color, formally closed in January 2024. University funding quickly evaporated for sev...
The Texas Tribune •

Texas bill would ban K-12 students from using cell phones during school hours

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Lawmakers want Texas to join a growing number of states in restricting public school students from using their cellphones during the school day, answering calls from educators who say the state needs to remove distractions from the classroom.


Under House Bill 1481, introduced by Rep. Caroline Fairly of Amarillo, K-12 public school students wouldn’t be allowed...
The Texas Tribune •

Texas school districts hopeful lawmakers will help plug $1.7 billion gap in special education funding

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Texas school districts are hoping changes under consideration at the Texas Legislature will help them keep up with the rising number of Texas students in special education programs — and the costs to support them.


Education advocates and school administrators say the proposals would help narrow the large funding gap between what Texas and the federal governmen...
The Texas Tribune •

Rafael Cruz, father of Ted Cruz, wants Texas to require school lessons about “evil” of communism

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Rafael Cruz, the right-wing pastor and father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, told a Texas Senate committee on Tuesday that public schools must be required to teach anti-communist lessons in order to reaffirm what he said is America’s true, Christian heritage.


“Communism needs to undermine the construct of god because government must become your god,” he said, later...
The Texas Tribune •

Texas’ DOGE committee takes inspiration from Elon Musk’s federal operation

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A few weeks after Elon Musk waved a chainsaw at a conservative gathering touting the Department of Government Efficiency’s federal cost cutting efforts, the Texas House kicked off the first meeting for its own version of DOGE.


Leaders of the Delivery of Government Efficiency committee in the House are following in Musk’s footsteps, promising sweeping changes a...
The Texas Tribune •

Texas Senate advances school prayer, Ten Commandment bills

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The Texas Senate on Tuesday advanced bills that would require public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments and allow districts to provide students with time to pray during school hours.


Senators gave final approval to Senate Bill 11, the school prayer bill, on a 23-7 vote. It now heads to the Texas House for consideration. All Republican senators a...
The Texas Tribune •

Texas may change how schools select library books. Critics say it could lead to more bans.

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A bill that would give parents more power over which books their children can read in public school libraries will soon go before Texas senators for a full vote.


The measure was approved Tuesday by a 10-1 vote in the Senate Committee on Education K-16. Introduced last month by Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, Senate Bill 13 would represent an overhaul of how sc...
The Texas Tribune •

A surge in bee deaths is hurting Texas beekeepers — and could affect the price of produce

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Since starting their beekeeping business southwest of San Antonio in late 2019, the Wheeler family has aimed to produce about 3,000 bee colonies each year, many of which are used to pollinate crops like watermelons and pumpkins.


In the last 15 years, bee colony collapses have become more common. It's typical for the Wheelers’ Frio Country Farms to lose about h...
The Texas Tribune •

Republican lawmaker files bills to ban DEI in Texas K-12 public schools

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A top Texas senator filed legislation Monday that would extend the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to K-12 public schools.


Sen. Brandon Creighton, the Conroe Republican who chairs the Senate Committee on Education K-16, introduced both Senate Bill 12 and Senate Bill 1565 after Gov. Greg Abbott expressed support in his State of the St...
The Texas Tribune •

Texas House wants to give public schools $220 more per student

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The Texas House filed legislation Thursday that would increase the amount of funding public schools receive per student by $220, a figure that public education advocates say falls short of what they have been asking for in recent years.


House Bill 2 — filed by Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado — would increase the base amount that schools receive from the state per...
The Texas Tribune •

Large earthquake strikes West Texas, among strongest ever in state

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A 5.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded in West Texas late Friday evening, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and could be felt by residents more than 150 miles away in El Paso.


The earthquake struck near the border of Culberson and Reeves counties at 11:23 p.m. CST with an epicenter about 33 miles northwest of Toyah, Texas. Three smaller aftershocks als...
The Texas Tribune •

In quest to infuse more religion into Texas schools, advocates say courts are now on their side

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Emboldened by recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings and President Donald Trump’s second term, conservative Christians are rallying behind a series of Texas bills that would further infuse religion into public education and potentially spark legal fights that could upend church-state separations.


Last week, the Texas Senate advanced a bill that would allow public t...
The Texas Tribune •

Legislature considers paying much more for school safety

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Since Texas passed a law in 2023 requiring public school districts to have an armed officer at each campus, districts have repeatedly asked the state for more money to fulfill the requirement.


In this year’s legislative session, lawmakers have pledged to increase school safety funding. The 2023 law, House Bill 3, increased that annual safety allotment to $10 p...
AP News •

Absenteeism remains high and Texas schools want the state’s help to keep students in the classroom.

In a typical school week, Delaila Constante makes more than a dozen calls to parents of students who are frequently absent from school. Last October, she made around 50 to 60 calls each week.As a parental involvement assistant at Edinburg North High School in South Texas, Constante is responsible for checking with parents of students who miss too much school, whether their absences are excused or unexcused. Parents often tell her their families face medical or financial difficulties like not hav...
The Texas Tribune •

Absenteeism spiked in the pandemic. Texas schools want the state’s help to keep students in the classroom.

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

In a typical school week, Delaila Constante makes more than a dozen calls to parents of students who are frequently absent from school. Last October, she made around 50 to 60 calls each week.


As a parental involvement assistant at Edinburg North High School in South Texas, Constante is responsible for checking with parents of students who miss too much school,...
The Texas Tribune •

Trump orders tariffs on Mexico and Canada — Texas’ biggest trading partners

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President Donald Trump made good on his threat to apply high taxes to imports from Mexico, Canada and China, signing executive orders Saturday that could have a major impact on three of Texas’ major trading partners. The tariffs will go into place Tuesday, according to multiple reports.


Trump instituted 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on Chin...
The Texas Tribune •

CenterPoint Energy settles rate case, will lower power costs for customers

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More than six months after CenterPoint Energy came under fire for its response to Hurricane Beryl — and its proposal to raise its rates — Houston’s main electricity company announced Wednesday that it reached a settlement that will lower customers’ bills.


Instead of the proposed rate increase that the company had requested shortly before Beryl made landfall, m...
The Texas Tribune •

Greg Abbott orders state agencies to cooperate with Trump’s deportation efforts

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In a series of executive orders Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts and directed the state’s criminal justice agency to identify land and facilities that could be used for detaining and deporting undocumented migrants.


The move comes just days after federal agents launched immig...
The Texas Tribune •

Texas Senate’s voucher proposal would give families $10,000 to fund students’ private school

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The Texas Senate revealed a bill on Friday to create an education savings accounts program, a top priority for Gov. Greg Abbott and top lawmakers after a similar bill failed to pass last legislative session.


The bill, co-authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, a Republican from Conroe who chairs the Senate Education Committee, would provide families with $10,000 a...
The Texas Tribune •

Texas should close prisons and jails with staffing challenges, state oversight panel says

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The Texas agency that manages the state’s prisons and jails should close correctional facilities with staffing challenges and do a better job at supervising inmate rehabilitation programs, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission said Wednesday.


The commission, which reviews the performance of Texas agencies, voted Wednesday to recommend the Legislature pass bills...
The Texas Tribune •

When is a business to blame for over-serving? Texas Supreme Court weighs the line in drunk driving case

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The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on a case about whether a business can be held liable under state law for drunk driving-related injuries caused by a customer, even if other attendees at that business said the customer did not appear to be physically intoxicated.


Barrie Myers is suing Cadot Restaurant in Dallas for allegedly over-serving alcohol...
The Texas Tribune •

Meta to move content moderators to Texas as part of plan to end fact-checking program

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Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta is moving its content moderators from California to Texas to reduce bias concerns, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a video posted to Facebook Tuesday morning.


The move is part of the tech giant's plan to end its third-party fact-checking program.


Meta is set to replace its fact-checking initiativ...
Block Club Chicago •

Amtrak To Boost Midwest Rail Service. A Union Station Makeover Is Next

DOWNTOWN — Starting next year, Chicago’s Union Station will begin more than $400 million in renovations as part of an Amtrak-led initiative to bolster ridership and rail services in the Midwest.The Chicago Hub Improvement Program, also known as CHIP, was announced in August 2023. The program will see upgrades to rail infrastructure in and around the city and renovations to Union Station, like the ones starting construction next year.CHIP also aims to boost railroad efficiency in the Midwest and...
Block Club Chicago •

Get Free Food For Your Furry Friends At Lincoln Square Pet Pantry Saturday

LINCOLN SQUARE — Those looking for free and nutritious food for their pets can find it this weekend at the The Friendship Center, a Lincoln Square-based nonprofit and food pantry.The center will host its monthly Friendship Pet Food Pantry 9-11 a.m. Saturday at 2711 W. Lawrence Ave. The pantry provides food for cats and dogs in addition to other items, including leashes, treats and kitty litter. It helps support pet owners who need a boost feeding their four-legged family membersAll materials are...
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